Early Edition with Kate Hawkesby

It feels like a raw deal doesn’t it? We’re locked down, grocery prices are creeping up and up and up, and then we get the news that we’re in for an expensive Christmas. Shipping lines have announced a ‘peak season surcharge’ on containers coming in from China and Singapore, and other shipping lines will likely follow suit.  So, when the cost goes up for them to ship stuff to us, they’re going to pass that cost on to us, and yet again, the consumer gets pinged.  Kiwibank’s chief economist said in one report that we can expect higher prices this Christmas, and potentially even some empty shelves. There may also be deliveries that just don’t show up in time due to delays.  He says that ‘significant delays and disruptions in the supply chain don’t seem to have abated since last year’ when we had ‘a shocking whiplash in global logistics’. If we haven’t caught up this year, then we know it’s not great news for the Christmas shopping. And Christmas, by the way, just to freak you out, is just over a hundred days away